Sandpaper Sharpening Platform

Sharpening edge tools with sandpaper and a honing guide makes great sense. It’s quick, inexpensive and the results can’t be beat. So in order to get the maximum efficiency from this simple technique, I put together a sandpaper sharpening platform.

Take a look at the drawings below and you’ll understand how it goes together. First, you’ll need to find a glass supplier who will cut a piece of 1/4″-thick plate glass to size and soften the sharp edges.

The glass is clamped to a plywood base using a pair of rabbeted cleats. But before installing the glass, I drilled a hang hole in one end and cut a set of angled notches in one edge, as shown in the detail drawing. These notches are used to quickly set the tool and honing guide to a couple of standard honing angles.

Sandpaper is the final ingredient. I added a couple of pieces of self-adhesive, aluminum oxide for the initial coarse work. The remaining space is filled with four grits of wet-or-dry silicon carbide paper attached with spray adhesive.